Want a Boat, not a Truck (Jacksonville, Orange Park: rent, buy, living in)

[LilMikey]

Hello all! First of all, thank you all for your participation on this forum. My wife and I live in St. Louis, MO but will be relocating to the Jacksonville area soon and the information on here has been invaluable.

We'd like to get a boat at some point. I like to fish with my father, my wife likes to get a tan or tube or ski. I do not want to get a truck. I prefer smaller, more fuel efficient vehicles. Is it feasible to own a boat without a trailer or vehicle to pull it? Just buy it, leave it in the dry-dock, and if it ever must be moved across land, rent or borrow a truck and trailer?

Thanks again,
Mike

[madcapmagishion]

Originally Posted by LilMikey

Hello all! First of all, thank you all for your participation on this forum. My wife and I live in St. Louis, MO but will be relocating to the Jacksonville area soon and the information on here has been invaluable.

We'd like to get a boat at some point. I like to fish with my father, my wife likes to get a tan or tube or ski. I do not want to get a truck. I prefer smaller, more fuel efficient vehicles. Is it feasible to own a boat without a trailer or vehicle to pull it? Just buy it, leave it in the dry-dock, and if it ever must be moved across land, rent or borrow a truck and trailer?

Thanks again,
Mike

Mike;
It is very possible to own a boat and keep it in what I refer to as Hi-N-Dry storage there are several such facilities here in Jax.

There's one at Mayport Marine which is the closest to the ocean so you find a lot of offshore fishing machines like mine there.(I don't keep mine there now I have a triple axle trailer and a diesel Ford F-250)

There's one at the junction of the Trout River and the St Johns River.

There's one in Arlington right near the foot of the Matthews Bridge.

There's one at the junction of the St Johns river and Goodbys Creek on San Jose Blvd.

There's one at the junction of the St Johns River and Julington Creek.

And there is one at Dr's Lake at the St Johns River

These are just the ones off the top of my head going from the ocean down the St Johns River to Orange Park Florida. there are several more located on the Ortega River and on the Inter Coastal water

I used to be stationed in St Louis at the The National Personnel Records Center, Military Personnel Records (NPRC-MPR) on a rehab assignment for a while and we used to have a 1986 30' Scarab Panther Model S While we lived there that we kept out at Lake St Louis and trailered down to either the Lake of the Ozarks or Kentucky Dam on Memorial Day and 4th of July or long weekends. Used to go fishing up at lock and dam #5 or at Portage Des Sioux up on the Missouri River.

FWIW...If all you want to do is fish, ski and catch some sun inshore, its possible to get a boat that is trailerable by a small car.

[LilMikey]

Thanks for the feedback and the re-assurance!

My wife and I are landlocked in the suburbs in west county STL. The most boat exposure I get is on my dad's john boat fishing in backwoods lakes in southern Illinois however we have friends that have more sporting boats, one even out at Lake St. Louis. We are beach bums though. Almost every vacation we take is too a sunny, sandy place so we're going to try living in a sunny, sandy place for a while.

My wife isn't comfortable on anything too small and 'waste-facilities' on board is one of her requirements. I like the idea of heading up or down-shore for a night or two although that may be a pipe-dream. We're seeing some 18-24' cuddy cabins that look about our speed.

On another note, boats seem ridiculously cheap on craigslist and some of the marinas and shops down there. Is that a function of the economy? The supply in the area? A lot of people dumping crappy boats?

Thanks again!

[JimRom]

Originally Posted by LilMikey

On another note, boats seem ridiculously cheap on craigslist and some of the marinas and shops down there. Is that a function of the economy? The supply in the area? A lot of people dumping crappy boats?

All of the above. The economy is down, so people are getting rid of the extras. Boats usually are among the first extras to go.

Supply is a bit high due to everyone getting rid of their boats.

And some of the boats are crappy. lol

FWIW, my wife and I moved down here from St. Louis about 3 years ago. It took her a while to adjust to the weather, but overall she's pretty happy here now. I'm from JAX originally, so the weather wasn't that big a deal, but apparently it hits midwesterners fairly hard

[madcapmagishion]

Well when gas hit $4.00 a gallon at the pumps on the docks in the marinas everybody and their brother decided it was getting a little to expensive for him.(gas prices for in the water service are about $0.50-$.075 a gallon more than at car pumps) During atypical King fish tournament it was not unusual to go through a full tank of gas in just 2 days that's $800 @ today's prices in gas in just 2 days! Back in 2001 it was about $400 for the gas for 2 days. I currently have a 2001 ZF32 Donzi its a center console fishing machine with a forward cuddy cabin with a v-berth and an under the console head. It holds 200 gallons of gas @$4 a gallon it adds up quick ohhh and it gets maybe 3-4 mpg with twin 225 Merc offshores is pretty good for a boat. I do trailer my boat and that's another added expense my triple axle Custom Aluminum trailer new was about $3500 in 2001. I used to keep my boat at Mayport Marine in the Hi-N-Dri storage and it was great call ahead and your boat is in the water and ready to go when you get there they will also fuel it up before you get there if you request it, but it comes at a price if I remember in 2001 it was about $200 a month, I think its up to $350 now but they go by the foot so a smaller boat is less. There is an old saying in boating that goes...
"the happiest day in a boat owners life is the day he buys a boat.... the second happiest day is the day he sells it" Another saying is... "a boat is a hole in the water you pour money into" If you have any questions about boats please feel free to ask. Hope you enjoy your move.